Optasia plans electricity advances after founder sells down

Optasia plans to expand into electricity offerings and credit card-style lending, according to News24, building on a model that has spent more than a decade advancing small amounts to mobile customers for airtime when they run out. The company, which uses an AI platform, operates in 38 countries and reaches about 120 million customers monthly. Electricity is described as a logical adjacent market in places where households buy power via prepaid meters, turning the meter into the distribution channel similar to a SIM card. The complication is the founder and the ownership shift. Bassim Haidar, who founded Optasia in 2012 (as Channel VAS), cut his stake from 19.3% at flotation to 1.5%, after related-party issues and a Nigeria suspension unsettled investors.